There was a time in my life when I didn't like tomatoes. I liked tomato products (salsa, pasta sauce, ketchup) but I hated tomatoes. I remember having lunch with my grandparents growing up and tomatoes--with nothing but a sprinkling of salt--were a dish unto themselves. My grandparents had a garden and their tomatoes were always fresh and I'm sure, as a product of my grandfather's skill and care, divine. But I didn't know it then because I refused to eat them. And my family counted this (along with my dislike for nuts and fish) as evidence that I was not actually theirs.

Turns out I am; I was just a late bloomer. Because I love tomatoes. Like I love Dr. Pepper and plane tickets. A lot. And like any good Southerner, I know that good is good, but really good is fried.

My history with fried green tomatoes includes a story featuring a flaming cast iron skillet that is better left to an upcoming rehearsal dinner, but my second favorite D.C. fried green tomatoes experience was at Georgia Brown's. I found this restaurant when I was an intern and it is one of my favorites in D.C. Imagine my joy when I found their wonderful fried green tomato recipe online!

The email exchange went something like (read: exactly like) this:

Me: STOP THE PRESSES! Georgia Brown's has their Fried Green Tomato recipe on the website!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to find some green tomatoes ASAP. IMMEDIATELY. AUGH.
Kyle: um. ok.
Me: That was not the reaction I was hoping for.

But my sweet husband loves me even though I occasionally send overly dramatic emails and when I came home with my sun-striped legs he had five green tomatoes for me. So of course I set up my tomato-frying assembly line right away:


The secret to the Georgia Brown's FGTs is that each one is really a FGT sandwich--two sliced tomatoes and a basil-cream cheese filling. They are a little tricky to bread, so be careful to hold them on the edges and not squeeze all of your filling into the raw egg.

Based on my track record with hot grease (ask to look at my right upper arm next time you see me!), Kyle did the frying part and I ate a dinner almost exclusively made of fried green tomatoes.


They were not exactly Georgia Brown's quality for two main reasons. First, I didn't have mayo for the sauce, I just had Miracle Whip, which Kyle will point out is Not The Same. Second, when you beg green tomatoes off of a farm share guy, you can't be too picky about the exact ratio of green-ness to done-ness. But they were still so good and so worth the effort. Great summer food.